Tag: philcon 2010

Yes, yes, Philcon was a month ago and by this point there isn’t too much to do except give a panel report.  Call it part of my year-end catchup.

I attended a lot of the same panels as Carrie and her general views about the con in her write-up would read more or less the same as mine.  But I do have pictures.

I remember it juuuust like it was yesterday…

1
First panel I attended that Saturday was “Do You Write With a Reader in Mind?” with Larry Hodges, Linda Bushyager, Alyce Wilson, Gary Frank, Gordon Linzer, and Oz Drummond.  This was probably the only panel I attended that effectively explored its topic. 

2
After my encounters with Peter S. Beagle, I made it to part of “Evolution of the Fantasy Graphic Novel.”  I went in expecting to at least hear a proposed lineage, rather than a lengthy debate on which “fantasy graphic novel” (as differentiated from the “superhero book”) kicked the whole thing off.  Marvel Comics Group’s Conan?  Eisner’s Contract with God?  Elfquest?

I admit it, I got bored and left.  I opted for dinner, a reading by the Garden State Horror Writers (of which Carrie is a member), and a launch party, after which, Carrie and I went to…

3
“Sexy Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories” with K.T. Pinto, Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, Jennifer Williams, and a moderator who didn’t show (which seemed to be more the norm at Philcon than at other cons I’ve attended, although I admit it could’ve just been my bad luck-of-the-draw).

Carrie talked about the content in her write-up, so I’ll talk about my impressions.  First off, the panelists did as great a job as could be expected sans moderator.  I attended the panel with an agenda in mind–to maybe pick up some things that wouldn’t make my publications in Rigor Amortis and Cthulhurotica flukes. 

I couldn’t help but think that if the moderator was there, I might’ve actually learned something more than…

• what not to call a vagina in erotica
• men really are pigs, as evidenced by the leering motley assortment of males in the audience.  My favorite–the guy who staggered in, with no badge that I could see, holding what looked like a 3/4 empty bottle of Michelob Ultra.

I can hear you scoffing.  “Yeah, you’re soo above it, aren’t you?  Like you weren’t checking out cleavages or listening for spank material.”  Well, I’m not going to say I wasn’t… or that I was, either.  Only I know what I was checking out at the time, which is, I’ll fancy, what separated me from some of my co-attendees.  At one point, I think I did hear Beavis and Butt-head snickering somewhere behind me.

My original assessment is unfair–I did learn a few useful tidbits and there was a very useful discussion about the panelists dealt with the issue of “questionable consent.”  But I think it’s fair to say those bits were serendipitous as opposed to a moderated agenda.

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I didn’t get a picture of the “Hard Boiled Detective Tradition in Fantasy” panel.  I didn’t take many notes and just listened to the panelists Richard Stout and Hildy Silverman.  

5
Okay, so this is where I rant a bit.  I don’t want to complain, but there were a lot of things that would make me think twice about going to another Philcon, chiefly the obvious lack of organization which is apparently legendary if you give any regard to the scuttlebutt you hear in the hallways between panels.  Moderators who, when they showed, freely admitted their utter lack of preparation.  The one I’m thinking of did not blame the fact that most panelists didn’t know until the 11th hour which panels they were on, let alone which ones they were moderating.  No, this person admitted, “I left my notes up in my room.”

And I’m sorry, but any convention that allows its Guest of Honor to go to the wrong freaking room, causing him to be fifteen minutes late to his own reading doesn’t rate very high in my book.

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“You are. Number Six.”  “You” being all the people whose company I enjoyed: Carrie, Simon, and the members of GSHW, all of whom thrashed me at Munchkin Cthulhu after a few sips of fine absinthe…

Forgive me Father, for it has been nigh on three weeks since I should’ve posted this.

So, in this part of my trip down Philcon memory lane, I’m going to focus on the things I gleaned from Peter S. Beagle’s GOH speech based on my week-old memory of the event, which is fuzzy from the constant squee of that day.

He basically went the “advice to aspiring writers” route.  I had no complaints.  And through his speech, I confirmed that he was yet another example of a writer whose work I admire who has similar views about writing as I.

The main points of his speech were, as I remember them…

1
“Nobody said anything about ‘inspiration.'”  Artists just go to work, like everyone else.  As his uncle told him, “When the muse is late, start without him.”

He also reminded us of the rule of all freelancers, “If they ask, you can write a song.”

2
“Show up for work.”  Beagle suggests building a time where no one gets to bug your and you can’t leave.  I suppose however you do that is up to you, but the takeaway is to write on a “murderously regular basis.”

3
“Enjoy the company of other writers.” Though, he notes, not while you’re writing.

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“Live with imperfection.”  Because, basically, you’ll have no choice, no matter how good you are.  He gave us an example of an artist who feels this way, jazz trumpeter Roy Eldridge. (A mutual love of jazz trumpeters can almost fool me into thinking Beagle and I are cut from the same cloth. Anyway…) Eldridge describes the trumpet as “a mean instrument” (Believe me, he’s absolutely right!), where some days you feel as though you’ve mastered the instrument inside and out.  And some days, the trumpet will say, “Hey, the hell with you, man.”

When Beagle has those times, he refers to a sign which he apparently always has above his writing desk that says, “Think, schmuck!”

5
“Pay no attention to criticism–or praise.”  ‘Nuff said, I think.  This is another oft-repeated piece of advice that’s escaped my notice until recently.

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“Nothing you accomplish prepares you for the next one.”  Again, ’nuff said.

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“You learn all this stuff by doing it.  And by doing it wrong.”  Say it with me: ‘Nuff said.

Next in the backlog/queue: a quick panel breakdown, ravings about the folks I hung out with, and rantings about the con organization.

It’s been a few days, so I thought I’d better get on with a Philcon write-up.  My year would’ve been complete having met one of my literary idols, Howard Waldrop, at Readercon in July.  The chance to meet a second idol in the same year, Peter S. Beagle, was just too good to pass up.  So, here’s what happened…

1

The first thing I had to do was get there.  Readercon took a lot of planning and a months-long allocation of resources.  This time I didn’t have the luxury of taking vacation days off on both side of the con, and being able to get my own hotel room to recharge my introvert points.  Let alone figure out how the hell I was going to get to Cherry Hill, NJ and back to work by Monday.

Enter one of my newest and truest friends, Cthulhurotica publisher Carrie Cuinn and her rented chariot, who was gracious enough to pick me up and take me home, all for gas money and as many meals as she would let me pay for.  Totally worth it! 

2
Saw some of the Lobbycon stuff going on Friday night, but was too tired by the time we got to the hotel to really check it out.

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Saturday morning, after breakfast at Panera, I hit my first panel, “Do You Write with a Reader in Mind.”  Y’know, I think I’m going to post my panel round-up next time…

4
The schedule of author signings was conspicuous by its absence.  Afterward, I trolled through the dealer’s room and there he was, signing…